Sosiaalinen media

Britain - stronger in Europe

The day of Britain’s EU referendum is drawing closer and we, the Student Union of the National Coalition Party and Social Democratic Students in Finland - SONK, want to express our joint support for Britain to remain in the European Union.

The EU has faced a great deal of challenges during its existence and especially during the last decade. In the time of crisis, it is easy to look for the simple answers to difficult questions and that is precisely what the populists and eurosceptics around Europe are now trying to offer. Leaving the union is considered to be a solution to all of the problems that we are now facing.

In Britain, we have witnessed a constant flow of preposterous claims about the EU and the possible post-Brexit era, while the facts and figures are often ignored. The Brexiters are trying to sell an illusion of the post-Brexit reality, where they could have almost all the same advantages of the union, and especially its single market, without any major disadvantages.

In order to get access to the single market without being a EU member state, there are different options, albeit every single one of them is unfit for the cherry picked imaginary future presented by the populists. Many of these schemes would grant Britain the access to the single market, but at the same time, require contributions to the EU budget and accepting the basic EU principles and rules without having any formal role in the decision making. As a result, Britain would see itself transforming from being a rule-maker to becoming a rule-taker.

It is impossible to know the true consequences, if Brexit were to happen. There are numerous fundamental questions still open and the only certain thing is that Brexit would be a genuine leap into the unknown, with massive risks. For a rational decision making process, the voter should be able to know what would happen in post-Brexit Britain.

We must be honest and acknowledge that the EU is far from perfect, but instead of giving up, we must stand together and find common solutions to common challenges. In the modern day globalized world, these challenges don’t stop to the borders and that is why we must be united and overcome these challenges together.

We must not ignore all the peace and prosperity that we have experienced in Europe during the time of the EU and for us younger generations it is highly important not to take these as granted. On our behalf, we represent two of the largest European political parties, European People’s Party (EPP) and Party of European Socialists (PES), and in times like these, we have chosen to believe in cooperation over isolation - Together we are stronger!